Beachcomber

Congratulations are in order to the Soul Sisters step team from the Reverend Mason Center, located in Edgemere. The talented girls have been recognized as outstanding performers and can be seen at McDonald’s Gospelfest 2001, which will be at Westbury Music Fair on Sunday, May 13, 4 p.m. For tickets call 631-888-9000.

Five developers have responded to the RFEI sent out by Community Board 14 regarding the property between Beach 43 and 58 streets in the Arverne Urban Renewal Area. One of the respondents was Resort Town Properties, operators of Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. The next step in the process will be a Request For Proposal sent by the Queens Borough President’s Office to these five developers and other interested parties.

A free spring training baseball clinic will be held Sunday, March 25 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Stella Maris High School, Beach 112 Street. Children ages 9 to 13 will be able to participate. Due to limited admission, those who are interested need to act quickly. For further information contact Jimmy Roberts at 718-945-5162.

According to Jon Gaska of Community Board 14, Mott Avenue between Beach Channel Drive and Cornaga Avenue will be spruced up by summertime. New sidewalks will be constructed and trees planted along the street. This kind of beautification project is long overdue...

While we’re mentioning Jon Gaska, the residents of Deerfield in Far Rockaway are praising his name. He finally got the city to come out and address the sewer problem, which The Wave exposed three weeks ago. City officials finally admitted that it was their pipes that were the problem and are going about repairing the situation.

Borough President Claire Shulman has provided one million in funding for ballfields at Bayswater Park. The community should be grateful to the 11-year-old grandson of community activist Al Moore, who brought the issue of poor quality ballfields to the attention of our elected officials.

MTA New York City Transit Authority has announced a $9.6 million project this week to paint and provide structural repairs to the train bridge that crosses Jamaica Bay. It is expected that the bridge will be closed for three weekends only during the construction period. The project is expected to be completed in early 2002. The Wave will report further on this as information becomes available.

The Irish Circle on Beach 102 Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard will be the home of an OTB restaurant. Community Board 14 overwhelmingly voted in favor of the proposal, with one ‘no’ vote and only a handful of members abstaining.

Lock your car doors. That’s the warning from local police after a person was arrested for attempting to break into cars on Beach 133 Street, Belle Harbor.

We think it is time for every school in the community, be in public, private or parochial, to have a very visible and understandable policy on school violence. Kids need to know who they should go to if they have suspicions about something that might happen, or if they got what they consider disturbing e-mail. They need to be encouraged to speak openly to their teachers and the plan should be shared with the parents so that they can reinforce it at home. Don’t wait until it is too late.

The New York City Parks Department has started its lifeguard recruitment for the upcoming summer. Free instruction is offered (must be 16 years of age at course completion). Call to join: 212-830-7880.